For instance, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed an ordinanceon Nov. 20, 2007, authorizing the County Clerk’s Office to issue SF City ID Cards. This photo identification card streamlined access to government programs for undocumented alien residents and connected them to local businesses, e.g., by providing a form of identification that could be used to open a checking account at participating banks.New York City also has a municipal ID card. It connects New Yorkers to services, programs, and benefits, regardless of immigration status.

Five days after President Trump’s election, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel reiterated Chicago’s commitment to being a sanctuary city. He said, “Chicago has been a city of immigrants since it was founded.” He also announced that a Municipal ID program was being developed and provided a link to Chicago’s Office of New Americans which is intended “to make Chicago the most immigrant-friendly city in the world.”

On March 29, 2017, he introduced an ordinance to the ity Council to establish the promised municipal ID card because many vital services require proof of identity, and some populations have difficulty accessing official identification, such as undocumented immigrants. The ID card will provide them with access to city services, cultural institutions, programs, and other benefits. “This program represents our values and reaffirms that everyone is welcome in this city.”

In President Trump’s Executive Order 13768, Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States, he declares that “Sanctuary jurisdictions” that “willfully violate Federal law in an attempt to shield aliens from removal from the United States” have caused “immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our Republic.” He intends to withhold federal funds from these jurisdictions, “except as mandated by law.”

About the author.Nolan Rappaport was detailed to the House Judiciary Committee as an Executive Branch Immigration Law Expert for three years; he subsequently served as an immigration counsel for the Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims for four years. Prior to working on the Judiciary Committee, he wrote decisions for the Board of Immigration Appeals for 20 years. He also has been a policy advisor for the DHS Office of Information Sharing and Collaboration under a contract with TKC Communications, and he has been in private practice as an immigration lawyer at Steptoe & Johnson.

The classic sign of a police state is when law enforcement agencies are free to take any action and engage in any abuses without being subject to judicial supervision. We saw this taking shape in America in the form of violent raids and assaults against immigrants under President Obama, and there are now signs of increasing abuses in the Donald Trump administration.

salon.com reports on April 2 that on March 27, ICE agents raided a home in Chicago and shot and seriously wounded an unarmed man in front of eight family members, including a one-year old child. According to a statement by immigrant rights organizations:

"The Chicago ICE firld office and its Director, Ricardo Wong, have repeatedly planned and executed violent raids in homes, wotk places, churches, and locations where our communities are supposed to feel safe."

The salon.com article also states that in 2014, the American Immigration Council learned of more than 800 reports of abuse by Border Patrol and CNP agents against betwen 2009 and 2012.

So what is new about Donald Trump's raids?

What is new is that Trump, in a televised address to DHS after signing his draconian January 25 immigration enforcement executive orders, Trump in effect told CBP and ICE officers that all restraints are off in dealing with immigrants. See the link to the full speech in the above salon.com story.

This can only bring back memories of another police agency, established in Europe in the 1930's, which was also exempted from any restraints, had total control over local police, and was also known for its violent arrests and treatment of people whom the government regarded as undesirable.

Is America now heading in the same direction?
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Roger Algase is a New York immigration lawyer and a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. Roger has been helping mainly skilled and professional immigrants receive work visas and green cards for more than 35 years.